Droit international général

The International Social Service (ISS) is celebrating its 100th anniversary and to mark this milestone it is organising several events in Geneva from 7 to 10 October 2024. In particular, it will be holding an International Conference entitled “Throughout time, across borders: Navigating child protection and restoring family links” on 9 October 2024 in a hybrid format.

As stated on its website: Confirmed panelists and moderators represent the following organisations: International Social Service Network, Hague Conference on Private International Law, UNICEF, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Government of Switzerland, Government of South Africa, University of Bristol, Maastricht University, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and other professionals from partner organisations.

The International Conference is scheduled between 9 am – 6 pm CET. The agenda and the registration form are available at the following link: https://evenium.events/iss-100-conference. There is a fee to participate (reduced fee for students).

As many of you may know, ISS has been a key player in raising awareness, developing and implementing measures for the protection of children on the move and undoubtedly influences Private International Law. Among its publications are:

• Children on the Move
• Kafalah – Preliminary analysis of national and cross-border practices
• Several publications on adoption
• Several publications on International Family Mediation

ISS has also been involved in the development and during the negotiations of HCCH Conventions, for example by submitting the groundbreaking response to a Questionnaire during the preparatory work for the Child Abduction Convention: See, Summary of findings on a Questionnaire studied by the International Social Service, Preliminary Document No 3 of February 1979 – HCCH, Actes et documents de la Quatorzième session (1980) – Child Abduction, tome III, Child Abduction pp.130-143.

Private International Law in Russia, by Anton Asoskov, Daria Levina and Milana Karayanidi, has just been published by Bloomsbury Publishing. The blurb reads: This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to Russian private international law (PIL) for the foreign lawyer. The book carefully examines the applicable conflict of law and jurisdictional rules on the basis […]

The 19th Regional Private International Law Conference will take place on 20 September 2024 at the Faculty of Law, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the Deutche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). The theme of the Conference is Application of General Legal Principles in Contemporary Private International Law. The opening panel will […]

A dedicated website for the Comparative Procedural Law and Justice (CPLJ) project has been launched. Started in September 2020 by the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law led by Burkhard Hess with support from the Luxembourg Research Fund FNR, in January 2024 the CPLJ project and the Institute were transferred to the University of […]

The Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (Lausanne) is looking for a Postdoctorand in transnational family law (80%).

The announcement can be found here.

The position will be integrated in the SICL’s team of international lawyers and researchers and be part of a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation on applicable law, jurisdiction, recognition and international cooperation in the field of filiation with foreign elements.

The aim is to respond to the new legal requirements created by the use of innovative methods of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) and new forms of surrogate motherhood.

 

According to the announcement, the tasks required will be:

 

• Collecting, classifying and analyzing Swiss and foreign law, case law and relevant law and literature
• Aggregation and disaggregation of data, identifying variables and highlighting specific features, leading to different insights
• Drafting comparative reports in comparative civil law, civil procedure and private international law
• Contributing to deliverables (book, workshop and conference)
• Exchange and proactive coordination with all partners of the project

 

The profile expected reads the following:

 

• PhD in comparative law (civil and procedural law) or private international law in the field of filiation (including ART and surrogate motherhood) or in family law in general
• Solid knowledge of one or more of the following legal fields: family law, administrative law, filiation (including ART and surrogate motherhood), civil procedure, recognition of foreign acts and decisions
• Able to deliver structured and precise work combined with the ability to put legal knowledge into practice
• Open minded and autonomous team player with good writing skills
• At ease in the use of software as Endnote and Zotero
• Knowledge of two official Swiss languages and a very good command of written and spoken English

This is a fixed term position of 4 years linked to a SNSF sponsored research project.
For further information kindly contact Dr. Ilaria Pretelli.

I reviewed Emiliou AG’s first Opinion in C‑339/22 BSH Hausgeräte GmbH v Electrolux AB here.  Seeing as the case was now reassigned to Grand Chamber (compare with CJEU IRnova where a 3 member chamber rejected reflexivity en stoemelings) and as a new hearing was held solely on the issue of reflexivity, the AG got a second go at the issue.

As I reported in my earlier post I do not think his views on the reflexivity issue (as opposed to his solid views on the A24(4) patent jurisdiction issue) are convincing. This second Opinion is a great resource for the conceptual thinking on reflexive effect (incl its relation to public international law issues of comity) however it does not sway me and neither do I believe will it convince the court.

Lydia Lundstedt has summarised and reviewed the Opinion here and (among others because I am swamped at Melbourne where term is in full swing) I am happy to refer.

The essence of the Opinion is that in the AG’s view under residual private international law (and civil procedure) rules, Member States may refuse to exercise Article 4 (or other) Brussels Ia derived jurisdiction if the claim engages with the validity of third States patents or, as Lydia summarises it: Member States may (1) decline to adjudicate a claim that has as its object the validity of a third-State patent (erga omnes) and (2) refuse to rule (inter partes) on an invalidity defence raised in an infringement action and stay that action while waiting for the authorities in the third State to rule on validity.

I have in fact advocated a change to the rules, de lege feranda. I do not believe reflexive effect exists de lege lata however, even under the roundabound way of letting Member States effect it under their residual rules.

Geert.

EU private international law, 4th ed. 2024, 2.218.

The second issue of 2024 of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (RDIPP) is out. Along with recent case law and materials, it features four contributions. Sara Tonolo, Il contributo degli studiosi italiani ai corsi de L’Aja di diritto internazionale privato (1973-2023) [The Contribution of Italian Scholars to The Hague Academy Courses on […]

A book launch for Family reunification in Europe: Exposing inequalities will take place on 19 September 2024 at the University of Antwerp and online (at 11:15 am CEST time).

To register click here. Below is the agenda.

11:15-11:30: Exploring inequalities in family reunification in Europe: perspectives from legal and social sciences

Ellen Desmet & Milena Belloni

11:30-11:40: How race and gender function in European family migration law

Betty de Hart

11:40-11:50: The recognition of child and polygamous marriages in Belgium: alignment between private international law and migration law?

Leontine Bruijnen

11:50-12:00: Domestic violence within the securitisation of (family and love) migration

Giacomo Orsini

12:00-12:30: Q&A

The third issue of the Journal du droit international for 2024 has been released. It contains two articles and several case notes relating to private international law issues. It also pays tribute to Ibrahim Fadlallah (1942-2024) who was a leading Lebanese-French academic and arbitrator. In the first article, Daniel Mainguy (University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne) uncovers […]

The author of this post is Nishat Hyder-Rahman, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MSCA Impact Fellowship Programme, Department of Private and Economic Law, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. On 28 March 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled on the case of Verhoeven v France. The case concerned whether the French courts’ application of the Hague Convention […]

The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) will be hosting the 13th International Forum on the electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP) together the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan and the Maqsut Narikbayev University on 21 and 22 October 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The full announcement reads as follows:

The e-APP is an integral part of the operation of the HCCH 1961 Apostille Convention. The e-APP is designed to ensure the practical, effective and secure operation of the Apostille Convention in an environment of constant technological development.

The International Forum on the e-APP gathers experts and stakeholders from around the world and provides a unique international platform for governments, organisations, and the private sector to learn more about the benefits of the e-APP, to promote its effective implementation, and to discuss the latest developments in relation to the e-APP worldwide.

The e-APP Forum will be held for the first time in Central Asia and will be jointly organized by the HCCH, the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan, and the Maqsut Narikbayev University. Participants are encouraged to attend this event in person, if possible.

Registration is possible here.

 

The author of this post is Lydia Lundstedt, who is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at Stockholm University, and currently a STINT fellow at the University of Botswana. In the interest of transparency, the author makes known that she previously wrote an expert legal opinion on behalf of BSH Hausgeräte. On 5 September 2024, […]

Christine Budzikiewicz (University of Marburg), Konrad Duden (Institute for Foreign and European Private and Procedural Law at the University of Leipzig), Anatol Dutta (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) Tobias Helms (University of Marburg) and Claudia Mayer (University of Regensburg) authored The Marburg Group’s Comments on the European Commission’s Parenthood Proposal with Intersentia. The European Commission’s […]

On 5 September 2024, the CJEU delivered its judgment in HUK-COBURG-Allgemeine Versicherung II (Case C-86/23) and established a number of requirements limiting the application of overriding mandatory provisions under Article 16 of the Rome II Regulation. The judgment makes it clear that the Court considers that these new requirements are equally applicable in the context of […]

Johannes Ungerer (University of Oxford and Notre Dame Law School) has published recently his article German Law’s Dilemma with Punitive Damages: German Federal Court of Justice, Judgment of 4 June 1992, Case IX ZR 149/91 (BGHZ 118, 312) on SSRN. The article is included also in the volume edited by James Goudkamp and Eleni Katsampouka titled […]

The Centre for Private International Law and Transnational Governance at the University of Aberdeen published several blog posts on Perspectives on Law in a Transnational Context. The blog post series explores the transnational tendencies in applying laws and rules of law and critically assesses their purpose from different legal and ethical perspectives.

The blog post series started with the post ‘Tracing the Transnational Evolution of Commercial Law’, exploring transnational commercial law’s development from its roots in Roman law to modern international commercial arbitration, authored by Jonathan Ainslie and Patricia Živkovi?. It highlights the transnational nature of legal authority, starting with the ius commune and lex mercatoria in medieval Europe, which laid the foundation for cross-border commercial practices and principles for dispute resolution which had cross-border application. The post further examines how international arbitration today employs a similar transnational methodology, allowing arbitrators to apply non-state laws and broader principles, thus challenging the traditional notion of state authority as the sole source of legitimate legal rules.

In the next blog post,Gloria Alvarez discusses the concept of ex aequo et bono as the applicable law in international arbitration from a transnational perspective. The author lays out the meaning – and value – of ex aequo et bono beyond the principles of good faith and equity established in common and civil systems. To do so, the blog makes reference to cases in international investment treaty practice, where ex aequo et bono has been put to test regarding its practical limitations and criticisms.

Alice Krzanich‘s blog explores transnational women’s legal history, focusing on the reform of sexual slander laws affecting women in the 19th century. The author highlights how common law jurisdictions like New Zealand, Australia, the U.S., and Canada enacted legislation that removed the need for women to prove economic loss (special damage) in slander cases involving accusations of unchastity. This legal evolution, sparked by shared dissatisfaction with restrictive defamation laws, illustrates how domestic legal changes often reflected broader transnational trends inspired by legal reforms in other common law nations. Additionally, while these reforms empowered women, they also reinforced certain sexist and racial stereotypes, demonstrating the duality in their impact. Through this case study, Krzanich emphasises how global legal movements influenced women’s rights across different jurisdictions.

Francesca Farrington‘s blog, ‘Oil in the Amazon’, explores how corporate power may influence the development and application of transnational legal norms through an analysis of the Chevron-Ecuador case. Farrington examines how Chevron were able to leverage their corporate power to the disadvantage of victims of corporate polluting and influence the development of key legal norms that govern transnational accountability. The case highlights how corporations can shape legal norms to their advantage, often reinforcing global inequalities and perpetuating historical power imbalances.

Nevena Jevremovic’s post, ‘“Rhetorical Community” and the Question of Equality in the Vienna Sales Convention’, explores the CISG (Vienna Sales Convention) in its broader political context. As a uniform legal text, the CISG constitutes a rhetorical community where discourse is essential in the continuity of uniform law among the different legal, social, and political context of its members. Jevremovic emphasises that the inequalities present during the CISG’s creation (and in contemporary trade) do not occupy a prominent place in the CISG’s discourse. She critiques the market-focused application of the CISG, arguing that it overlooks socio-economic inequalities and colonial legacies that still impact global trade. The blog post calls for a more inclusive interpretation of the CISG to address disparities among contracting parties.

The Centre for Private International Law has expanded its core scope of research and teaching activities over the modes of transnational governance. To reflect these changes, in 2024, the Centre’s mission was formally broadened due to globalisation tendencies in law, and the Centre was renamed ‘the Centre for Private International Law and Transnational Governance’. This blog series enhances the understanding of specific aspects of transnational governance and its fundamental connection to the field of private international law.

We welcome any commentaries or additional views on this and other topics.

The Centre for Private International Law at the University of Aberdeen published its newest blog post series in early August. This series is based on the keynote speeches and panel discussions from the 2024 PAX Moot Half Day Conference, held on 26 April 2024 in Ljubljana. The insightful event was co-organised by the Centre for Private International Law of the University of Aberdeen, the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana, and the PAX Moot Project, co-funded by the European Commission.

The conference, titled ‘Private International Law in Dispute Resolution,’ brought together leading experts to explore the evolving landscape of private international law and its role in resolving cross-border disputes. Throughout the series, the speakers reflected on their key themes and the discussions that emerged from the event, providing practical insights that can be applied in real-world scenarios.

The first post brings you Professor Ronald Brand’s opening keynote speech on drafting choice of court and arbitration agreements, exploring private international law points from a transaction planning perspective.

The second post, Business and Human Rights Litigation and Private International Law, highlights findings shared by panellists on sustainability and private international law, and human-rights-related torts in the private international law of the European Union.

The third post, The Law Applicable to the Arbitration Agreement, will deliver on the legal complexities and considerations in determining the applicable law for arbitration agreements, especially in light of the latest amendments to the 1996 English Arbitration Act.

Finally, the fourth post provides a new perspective on the impact of globalisation on private international law, arguing that the so-called neutrality of private international law is becoming a fiction embedded in a very specific liberal and Eurocentric worldview.

The central theme of the latest issue of the Revue critique de droit international privé (announced on this blog here) is migration. While most of the articles focus on the new French statute to control immigration and improve integration, Hans van Loon takes a broader perspective and argues in the opening article (La nécessité d’un cadre […]

The 115th Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars will take place at the University of Bristol between 3 and 5 September 2024. The conference will focus on the theme Learning from Others: Lessons for Legal Scholars? The Conflict of Laws section, coordinated and moderated by Michiel Poesen (University of Aberdeen) and Patricia Zivkovic (University of […]

Back to normal activity as of 3 September, here is the planning in relation to cases on private international issues for this month. Advocate General N. Emiliou’s second opinion in case C-339/22, BSH Hausgeräte, expected in July (see here), was re-scheduled and should be delivered on Thursday 5. On the same day, Advocate General J. Richard […]